HILLCREST  Some parking relief will come to Hillcrest and Mission Hills on Thursday when city officials open a 35-space parking lot on the future site of a new library branch.

The parking lot, at the southwest corner of Washington and Front streets, will be open 24 hours a day with safety lighting. Fees will be 50 cents an hour, with a 12-hour limit.

City Council President Todd Gloria, whose district includes Hillcrest and Mission Hills, said the lot will close when construction begins on the the branch in spring 2016. It's expected to open in late 2017 or early 2018.

At 15,000 square feet, the new branch will be nearly four times the size of the 3,850-square-foot Mission Hills branch it’s replacing. Funding includes a $10 million private donation.

The new branch will be just north of Florence Elementary School — about four blocks east of the existing Mission Hills branch, which opened in 1961.

The Mission Hills branch is one of 35 branches the city operates. Other branches slated for expansion and renovation include Skyline and San Carlos.